Reykjavik, Iceland

How cold was it? Did we actually see any ice? The answer is mid 50s and NO. What we did see was an eerie and desolate landscape, some sheep and horses, and lots of moss and lichen covered lava fields with geyser’s and geothermal steam vents erupting everywhere.  Both Michael and I escorted the same tour and actually spent quite a lot of time together exploring Iceland’s dramatic countryside. We departed the ship around 7:30 am and arrived back at 4:30 pm. It was a long and very interesting day.

Now why would anyone want to go to Iceland? I didn’t have any preconceived notions about what I would see, but I surely was delighted with the day’s events. The population of Iceland is only 320,000 and 65% of the inhabitants live in the greater Reykjavik area. Most people live along the coastal plains as much of the island is uninhabitable because of the lava fields and mountains. The island used to be heavily forested, but the Vikings cut down all the trees in order to farm.   Today, trees do not grow due to erosion and wind; the roots cannot take hold and the wind tears them apart. Iceland is home to some of the world’s largest lava fields, and in 1965, Apollo astronauts trained for their moon flight here. Volcanoes erupt approximately every five years.

The only indigenous mammal to Iceland is the Arctic Fox; all other animals have been imported. Iceland is known for its horses as the blood line is so pure that no outside horses are allowed on the island (they have an extra gait that other horses don’t have). These horses are small and look like ponies, but we are told that they are very strong and gentle. They are absolutely beautiful and are solid or multi-colored. One horse had no less than five colors on him/her (white, black, grey, brown, and chestnut) and was stunning. Unfortunately, we were not able to get any good pictures of these magnificent creatures. However, Michael did buy a coffee cup (surprise) with a 3-D horse on it.

Prior to World War II, Iceland was an isolated, poor, and backward country. People lived in CAVES as recently as 1940. WWII was seen as the “blessed war” because it catapulted Iceland into the modern world. The British invaded Iceland in 1940 to keep the Germans from gaining a foothold. The British built a lot of the infrastructure and then the Americans came and added more. Iceland was a Danish colony until 1944, when it got its independence.

I am so sorry to spend so much time on the history of Iceland, but our guide was full of so many interesting facts that I took copious notes and now I find that I don’t know where to cut. I found all of this so fascinating. He was born in Ireland, but became an Icelandic citizen some 30 years ago. He had three children born in Ireland, but they were allowed to keep their original names. He had another child, who was a citizen of Iceland, and by law, had to be given an Icelandic name. So three kids have one surname and the fourth has another. It is their way of keeping the language “pure.” By law, maternity leave is nine months; three for the mom, three for the dad (it is mandatory), and the other three split between the mom and dad.

Some final facts: the average temperature in January is 32 degrees and in July, it is in the 50s. The gulfstream keeps it warm. We all know that Iceland is broke; the economy tanked in 2008 due to bad loans taken in foreign currency. The taxes are high and social services have been cut. No one can get loans so the housing market is worse than ours.

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We were on the Golden Circle tour that took us on a tour of the southwestern part of Iceland. Our first stop was Thingvellir National Park, which contains the most sacred site in Iceland where the world’s oldest democratic body (called the Althing) convened in 930 A.D.   We were lucky with the weather as we had showers mixed with sunshine, and mild temperatures. This is where we walked along a crevasse or fissure that was created when the American and Eurasian Teutonic plates met. In fact, Iceland is growing by 2 cm per year as the fissure enlarges and lava fills it in.

Our next stop was the Gullfoss waterfall and then the Geysir, where we got to view Strokkur geyser put on a thrilling display. Speaking of geysers, children walking to school have to be careful as a geyser could go off at anytime. A nice buffet lunch and then on to the geothermal power plant for a demonstration of how electricity is generated using hot water from far beneath the ground. A bore hold is drilled into the earth to reach pockets of super heated water which is then run through a heat exchanger which transfers the heat to cold fresh water.  The steam thus generated runs the turbines that then generate electricity. They cannot use the super heated water from the ground because there are too many dissolved chemicals which can cause pipes to erode. Ninety percent of the houses use hot water for heating their homes and driveways. This steam is delivered by pipes from the geothermal features directly to each house. They also heat greenhouses so they can grow vegetables.

Our final stop was to “The Pearl,” a glass structure with a 360 degree view of Reykjavik that was built on top of the city’s water storage tanks. On the way back to the ship, we drove by the house where Reagan and Gorbachev had the cold war summit in 1986. We had an excellent day, and I actually was able to walk and climb in and out of the bus without too much trouble – and that makes me happy.